Sapphire

One of the official state gemstones of Montana, sapphires hold a special place in the Treasure State where they are readily found. Sapphires and rubies are both corundum, an aluminum oxide mineral typically found in crystalline form. The only difference between the two is the presence of chromium. If the corundum is red, it’s ruby. Otherwise, it’s always a sapphire.

One of the most desired types of gemstones, the most well-known sapphire hue is deep blue, but these gemstones are found in pink, green, violet, orange, purple and even brown. When they’re not blue, they’re referred to as fancy sapphires. These colors are because of the varying degrees of chromium, titanium oxide and iron within the stones. Sapphires also possess a trait called asterism where needle-like inclusions create the appearance of a six or twelve-patterned star. Beyond this unique characteristic appreciated by faceters, sapphires have a Mohs Amy Grisak; Getty Images/Science Photo Library value of nine, just below a diamond, making them extremely durable and an excellent choice for jewelry.

Tiger’s Eye

This distinct gem has a long history of fending off the “evil eye,” with its resemblance to a cat’s eye. In gemology, this trait is called chatoyancy, a French term meaning “shining like a cat’s eye.” When there are crocidolite (blue asbestos) fibers within cabochon-cut gemstones running parallel to each other, the rounded surface allows the light to reflect in a way that gives the tiger’s eye its signature look. Originally, scientists thought this phenomenon occurred when the crocidolite within the stone was changed by iron oxide and replaced with silica. But even though the coloration comes from this process, some researchers believe it’s actually crocidolite inclusions within columns of quartz within the stone that form the distinct paralleling nature.

Regardless of how it formed, tiger’s eye is a favorite gem for tumbling and with a Mohs value of seven, it’s a versatile stone for a multitude of uses. While it’s a ubiquitous stone these days, in the 1870s a single carat of tiger’s eye was worth an ounce of gold.

Unakite

Unakite is a terrific example of when a gemstone is a true rock as this beautiful pink and green specimen is a composite of metamorphic rocks including orthoclase, epidote and milky quartz. It’s formed during hydrothermal metamorphosis when the epidote replaces the silicate minerals, primarily plagioclase, within the granite. The epidote is green within unakite, while the pink orthoclase feldspar and quartz create the colorful speckling.

First found in the Unakas Mountains of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, it’s sometimes found in the rivers of the region, along with the beaches of Lake Superior where glaciers deposited the metamorphic rocks. With a Mohs rating of six to seven, unakite is among the types of gemstones that tumble well. It has been used to make small sculptures or is cut for jewelry. As eye-catching as it is, unakite is also valuable in construction on many levels, including being used as trim along the front steps of the south entrance of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It is also sometimes used less visibly as crushed stone in highway construction.

Vesuvianite

Sometimes called idocrase, vesuvianite was originally found along Mount Vesuvius in Italy, which buried the nearby inhabitants of the city of Vesuvius on August 24 in 79 AD, ironically during the festival of Vulcanalia, the god of fire. In the world of gem cutting, vesuvianite often refers to the rough stone, while the faceted gems are called idocrase.

Regardless of the name, this is a calcium-aluminum-silicate mineral that forms in a tetragonal structure. Its most popular colorations range from yellowish green to brownish or olive green, although there is a blue version called cyprine that derives its color from trace amounts of copper. With a Mohs value of six, vesuvianite isn’t a very hard stone and is often used for larger jewelry and sculptures. In its green coloration, it’s sometimes mistaken for other types of gemstones like peridot, although vesuvianite is far rarer.

White Topaz

While topaz is found in practically the entire color range, the white topaz is the clear version and boasts a similar appearance to a diamond. Outside of cost, there are distinct differences between the two types of gemstones. Topazes and diamonds are closely alike in clarity and color, but brilliance is where diamonds shine. Hardness is another determining factor. Diamonds reign supreme rating at Mohs 10, while topazes register as a Mohs eight, considerably less durable with a greater risk of scratching.

Topaz is created when water and magma react during the metamorphic process creating pegmatite featuring natural topaz that is typically initially clear. While the wide variety of colors is because of impurities, such as chromium replacing the aluminum within the stone, white topaz is the gem in its purest form. Specific hues are also created with heat, irradiation or the application of metal oxides to enhance colors. Topaz also exhibits pleochroism where the gem exhibits different colors depending on its angle, although the white topaz tends to remain consistent in its coloration.

Xenotime

On occasion, there are types of gemstones cut from this rare earth mineral, often found in yellowish-orange to reddish-brown hues, although high enough quality stones to facet are rare.

Like topaz, xenotime is found in pegmatite formations, as well as igneous rock and gneiss. Uranium and thorium are often found within this stone, creating natural radioactivity, although it is more commonly seen as a source for the transition metal yttrium, which is used as an alloy in the production of camera lenses and lasers. Its name is derived from the Greek terms for “vain” and “honor” in an early scientist’s snarky rebuke of another. Initially, Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius believed he discovered a new element within the xenotime. This turned out to be the already known yttrium, which prompted mineralogist François Sulpice Beudant to throw down a bit of shade on the claim.

Yellow Kunzite

True gemologists might shudder at the inclusion of yellow kunzite in this types of gemstones list, but it’s an example of when marketing can be misguided. As a rule, kunzite is a pink to light purple variety of spodumene, a lithium-rich mineral found, once again, in pegmatite formations. Manganese gives kunzite those attractive colors. When the gem is yellow, it’s typically just called yellow spodumene. The name change might be a matter of one word sounding more appealing than the other, but it is still misleading as kunzite implies a specific hue. With a Mohs value of six and a half to seven, it is not a very durable gemstone, but it’s possible to find specimens of 20 carats or more. Spodumene, in general, is an important source of lithium, which is critical for car batteries, phones and medicine. It is mined in Afghanistan, Pakistan, California, North Carolina and South Dakota.

Zircon

Not to be confused with the synthetic cubic zirconia, zircon earned its place as a popular gemstone 2000 years ago. Found in sand and as part of many of the rocks throughout the world, zircon is one of the oldest minerals on earth. Because of its uranium content, scientists in Australia dated it back 4.4 million years. Not all zircons are radioactive, but those that are can be heat-treated to stabilize the integrity of the stone by slowing the degradation of the crystalline structure. In their natural form, zircons are found in colors ranging from clear to yellow, green, purple, brown and grays, which are typically caused because of radiation or impurities. Blue zircons, which have been popular since Victorian times, are created through heat treatments.

This story about types of gemstones by letter appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Amy Grisak.

The post Types of Gemstones By Letter (S-Z) first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

January

Garnet has been the birthstone for January since the 15th century, at least. With a Mohs hardness of 6.5 to 7.5, it can be faceted into beautiful gemstones that wear well in jewelry. Since the term “garnet” actually refers to a group of nesosilicate gems, those born in this month can choose from a rainbow of colors.

The most common members are red almandine, an iron-aluminum silicate; red pyrope, a magnesium aluminum silicate; orange-yellow spessartine, a manganese aluminum silicate; the yellow or green varieties of andradite, a calcium-iron silicate; predominately green grossular, a calcium-aluminum silicate; and rare, bright-green uvarovite, a calcium chromium silicate.

February

From the 15th century to the present, amethyst has been the preferred birthstone for February. Amethyst belongs to a mineral family that can compete with garnet for diversity of color: quartz.

Pure quartz is colorless, as exemplified by Herkimer diamonds. The causes of amethyst’s shades of pale violet to rich purple are radiation and the inclusion of iron impurities and trace elements.

As a rule, amethyst crystals are short and stubby, and occur in large numbers, often filling a large vug a hollow petrified tree section, or lining the inside of a geode. Fine crystals that are large enough to produce a faceted gem of over 20 carats are rare.

March

The current choice of a birthstone for March is aquamarine. Aquamarine is a variety of beryl (Mohs 7.5-8). Its name was derived from the fact that the beautiful, transparent, blue-green coloration of the gem resembles that of seawater. It can be found in translucent to transparent crystals that form in the hexagonal system. The six-sided crystals are often striated lengthwise.

Aquamarine develops in metamorphic rocks and, more often, in pegmatites.

April

Before 1900, a person with an April birthday had two choices of birthstone: diamond or sapphire. During the 20th century, however, diamonds became the preferred stone.

Diamond, a mineral consisting of pure carbon, heads the list of all gemstones for its beauty and hardness. A 10 on the Mohs Scale of Hardness, it is resistant to scratching and is an ideal gem to set in rings. Its hardness results from the arrangement of its atoms in cubes.

All diamonds have slightly rounded faces, and they’re so smooth they feel greasy to the touch. They can be colorless and water clear to blue, pink, yellow, brown, green or black, and transparent or translucent. They shine with an adamantine luster when held to the light.

May

There were two choices for May birthstones for several hundred years: emerald and agate. The popularity of agate seems to have waned at the turn of the 20th century, so emerald is now the favorite. It’s the green member of the beryl family of gemstones. The color varies from bright green to pale green and, sometimes, darker shades of blue-green.

Fine emeralds have a velvety surface appearance and, in the better stones, an even distribution of color. One bad trait of emeralds is a tendency to have inclusions. It’s rare to find an emerald without some slight imperfection. This in no way deters from the beauty of this gemstone, though. It can also be one way of determining whether an emerald is a simulated gem or the real thing, as manmade stones have no imperfections.

June

The contemporary choices for June are pearl, moonstone and alexandrite. Of course, a pearl is the organic product of marine bivalves and not a mineral.

Moonstone is a variety of feldspar that shows adularescence, or schiller, an optical effect that produces a milky luster with a bluish tinge that appears to move across the stone when it is tilted. The phenomenon is named after the feldspar variety adularia.

Alexandrite is a color-change variety of chrysoberyl (beryllium aluminum oxide). This is a very rare and expensive gemstone. It has a hardness of 8.5, and its crystals are either tabular or prismatic. The distinction between alexandrite and chrysoberyl is simply color. A strange characteristic of alexandrite is that it is red, purple or violet when held under artificial light, but in daylight, it looks green.

July

Ruby is the standard birthstone for the month of July. It is a corundum (aluminum oxide) gem that gets its color from the presence of chromium in its structure. An exceptionally hard mineral, corundum illustrates a hardness of nine on the Mohs scale. “Pigeon-blood” red is the preferred color for rubies, though they also occur in lighter shades, including pink. All other colors of corundum are called sapphires.

Ruby exhibits all the desirable properties of a jewelry stone: beauty, durability, optical properties, and rarity. Some rubies display a star or asterism when fashioned into a cabochon. This effect is caused by the reflection of light from numerous inclusions of minute, needle-like crystals of rutile. Corundum crystallizes in the hexagonal system with a tabular-barrel-shaped habit.

August

Current birthstones for August are peridot, the gem-quality form of olivine and spinel. Olivine makes up a large portion of the earth’s mantle. Rocks containing olivine have been brought to the surface by volcanic action and actually blown out in the form of volcanic bombs. Masses of olivine have been found in meteorites, and the Apollo astronauts brought basaltic rocks back from the moon that contained olivine.

A popular jewelry stone, peridot has a hardness of 6.5-7 and can be transparent or translucent, with a vitreous luster. Its color shades from deep green to apple green, yellow-green or olive. It’s most often found in granular nodules, forming short, prismatic crystals in the orthorhombic system.

Spinel is the gem-quality member of the larger spinel group. Its hardness (Mohs 7.5-8.0) makes it ideal for jewelry use. Its spectrum of colors includes red, pink, purple, blue and lavender. In times past, red spinel was often mistaken for ruby. A notable example is the Black Prince’s Ruby, set in the royal crown of England.

September

The birthstone for September is sapphire. This term refers to any corundum (aluminum oxide) gem that has any color other than red (ruby). Sapphires may be colorless, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, pink, purple, gray, black, or multicolor. At Mohs 9, its hardness is second only to that of a diamond.

Heat treatment is sometimes used to give natural blue sapphires a deeper, more pleasing color. Natural star sapphires, which display the optical phenomenon of asterism, are very rare.

October

Two options for October are opal and tourmaline. Opal is a magnificent gemstone with a play of color or “fire” in all colors of the spectrum. Spaces between the tiny spherules of silica that make up the gem diffract light into its spectral colors. Red, yellow, green and blue, in strong to pastel shades, flash from the stone when it is tilted.

Opal occurs in common and precious types. Common opal does not display any reflective fire. It may have a honey-yellow, brown, gray or colorless body color that is milky and opaque. Opal (Mohs 5-6) is not a very hard gemstone.

Tourmaline, a silicate of boron, has a complicated chemical composition, in which a number of elements, including calcium, iron, sodium and aluminum, may combine. It has a Mohs hardness of 7-7.5.

It belongs to the trigonal crystal system and its habit is hemimorphic (a crystal having two ends of an axes unlike in its planes).

Because of the coloration of the individual stones, tourmaline has several names, including schorl (black), rubellite (red), indicolite (blue), and dravite (brown). Tricolor crystals are common. The popular watermelon variety has an outer layer of green around a red core.

November

The current birthstones for November are topaz and citrine. People tend to think of topaz, a silicate mineral with aluminum and fluorine, as a yellow stone, but heat-treating and color-enhancing adaptations have made blue the predominant color on the market. It is an allochromatic mineral, which means its color is caused by internal defects in the crystal and has a Mohs hardness of eight.

Citrine is the golden member of the quartz family (silicon dioxide). Though quartz in its many forms is one of the most abundant minerals on earth, fine, gem-grade crystals are not that common. Citrine is affordable and, when faceted, rivals more expensive gemstones in beauty.

December

There are three birthstones for December: turquoise, blue zircon and tanzanite. Turquoise (hydrated copper aluminum phosphate) is an opaque, blue-to-green, massive gem material. It has a relatively low hardness of Mohs 5-6, so care must be taken with turquoise jewelry.

The rarest and most valuable variety is robin’s-egg blue with black “spiderweb” veins of limonite. Fake turquoise, consisting of dyed howlite or magnesite, is common. Buyer beware.

Zircon (zirconium silicate) can be blue, black, red, brown, green, yellow, smoky, or water-clear. It has an adamantine luster much like that of a diamond, and it is often misidentified as such.

Tanzanite, the blue/purple variety of zoisite (basic calcium aluminum silicate), is a recently introduced alternative for December. Tanzanite crystals in shades of yellow to brown, green, pink, gray or blue are often heat-treated to produce a gemstone that is a beautiful and permanent blue.

This story about what are birthstones by month previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe! Story by Kenneth H. Rohn.

The post What are the Birthstones by Month? first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

This iconic World Heritage Site encapsulates a central theme of “Paradise” with its harmonious blending of so many elements including the phrase “Enter Thou My Paradise” inscribed over one entrance.

The Taj Mahal, which translates as the “Crown of Palaces,” has been called the jewel of Muslim art in India. This “ultimate symbol of love and loss” perched above the Yamuna River in Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh, began with Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, who reigned from 1628 to 1658.

Keeping a Memory Alive

Although he had many wives, Jahan had one great love, his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631. It is said Jahan’s hair turned gray overnight in his grief. To keep his wife’s memory alive forever, he immediately commissioned a great mausoleum to house her remains. Eventually, it would also serve as the tomb of Jahan himself, forever side-by-side with Mumtaz in what was meant to replicate paradise on earth.

Construction began in 1632, and the famous white marble mausoleum was completed in 1648. It took another five years (until 1653) to complete the entire 42-acre complex, which includes reflecting pools, courtyards, gardens, cloisters, crenelated walls, and associated majestic buildings (including a mosque and a guesthouse) constructed in red sandstone from Delhi. But the 115-foot high dome of the mausoleum stands out as the centerpiece. Its translucent white marble from Makrana quarries in Rajasthan (transported nearly 500 miles via bullock carts and elephants) contrasts with the red sandstone of the surrounding buildings and walls. The color of the marble shifts with the hours of the day : pink in the rising sun, white in strong daylight, golden-hued at sunset and under the moon. Some say this was intentional, to replicate the ever-shifting moods of Mumtaz.

Surprising Materials

A surprise for many is that the Taj Mahal is more brickwork than marble. The white marble forms just a thin veneer. Had it been crafted entirely of marble blocks, the tomb would not have been able to support its own weight.

Under the supervision of Ustad Ahmad Lahauri and a board of court architects, construction involved masons, stonecutters, sculptors, and inlay artisans along with the best calligraphers in the land. In all, more than 20,000 laborers formed a city-within-city surrounding the complex in a project that, in its day, was comparable to the Apollo moon shot of the 1960s. And its cost was similarly exorbitant.

How much would it cost to build the Taj Mahal today? Sources are conflicting. In U.S. dollars, numbers range from as low as $70 million to as high as $1 billion. No matter how you do the math and the exchange rate, that is a lot of rupees!

Symbolic Designs

Because the Islamic faith forbids the use of human faces or imagery in decoration, the surface of the mausoleum relies on symbolism to reflect both natural beauty and divinity. Per one source, it was designed to represent “an earthly replica of one of the houses of Paradise.”

Floral Symbols

Architects chose abstract geometric forms, including herringbone inlays here and there, but especially floral designs. Flowers were considered natural symbols of the divine realm.

The designs include realistic vases, flowers, and vines carved in three-dimensional relief and polished within the marble on some panels. Such carved relief works particularly grace the lower portions of the walls.

What really catches the eye are the inlays of stylized flowers. While commonly called peitra dura (“hard stone”) from Italian traditions, in India it is called parchin kari. Precious and semi-precious stones ranging from large slabs to tiny slivers were cut, shaped, polished, inlaid, and leveled to the enclosing marble. The floral patterns they represent include tulips, lilies, irises, poppies, and narcissus. To create shaded effects, a single flower might have a dozen or more carnelian pieces in colors of varied intensity.

Taj Mahal Pattern Books

To this day, Indian artisans hold “pattern books” to craft designs originating with the Taj Mahal into marble countertops, tables, and small jewelry boxes. While few of us will ever be in a position to create or purchase a monument on the scale of the Taj Mahal, parchin kari has long been a vibrant cottage industry in this region of India.

But buyer beware! Quality varies considerably, from the finest marble that is highly durable and takes a fine polish to soft, porous marble or even soapstone that may be inlaid with plastics. The real deal is stunning to behold.

While parchin kari in airport gift shops may go for cheap, Shah Jahan spared no expense in sourcing stones for inlay from all around India, the Middle East, and Asia to grace the mausoleum for his beloved Mumtaz. For instance, carnelian came from Arabia, jade from China, jasper from Punjab, turquoise from Tibet, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, and sapphires from Sri Lanka. In all, some 28 types of gemstones were used as inlay.

Common Gems in the Taj Mahal

It’s said the lapidary artists decorating the Taj Mahal chose stones “whose luster and color never fades.” Here are just a few:

• White, yellow, and black marble
• Blue lapis lazuli
• Red and orange carnelian
• Green jade
• Blue turquoise
• Jasper in varied colors
• Green malachite
• Green-and-red bloodstone
• Multi-colored banded agates and chalcedonies
• Garnet
• Sapphire

In addition to flowers, inlaid calligraphy composed of jasper and black marble graces several parts of the Taj Mahal, particularly recessed arches. The calligraphy highlights passages from the Qur’an that were chosen by the Persian Abdul Haq, who was greatly admired for his skill as a calligrapher. He used an elegant cursive style known as “thuluth script.” Shah Jahan graced him with the title “Amanat Khan Shirazi” for his work. Such was the attention to detail that calligraphy in higher parts of the building is slightly larger to reduce “skewing effects” when viewed from the ground. Everything about the Taj Mahal had to be pleasing to the eye with balance, symmetry, and harmony.

Taj Mahal Through the Years

Shah Jahan was a rich man with a rich kingdom and as such could afford inlay using the best of precious and semi-precious stones. However, if you were a ruler in a province lacking in resources but you at least wanted to look rich, you had plaster painted to look like inlaid marble or plaster inlaid with colored glass and mirrors simulating gemstones and silver. But, try as they may, none came close to replicating the real deal at the Taj Mahal.

Decorative elements in the Taj also once included gold and silver, including a gold spire atop the main dome. But Agra was invaded in the 18th century by armies of the Jat rulers of Bharatpur. They took away all gold and silver elements, as well as an agate chandelier. At some sites, all precious stones had been pried from walls and it is said that invading armies would pile wood in halls and set it ablaze to capture silver as it melted and dripped to the floors. In light of such carnage elsewhere, we are lucky the Taj Mahal escaped further vandalism over the many centuries.

By the end of the 19th century, the Taj Mahal complex had fallen into a state of disrepair. Recognizing the significance and beauty of even a tarnished Taj Mahal after India had been colonized by the British, viceroy Lord Curzon embarked on a restoration project that was completed in 1908. Despite ups and downs, India and the world continue to recognize and appreciate the beauty, symmetry, and significance of this incomparable gem of love, loss, and paradise. In the words of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, it will forever stand as “a teardrop on the face of eternity.”

Explore More

• Official website of the Taj Mahal: www. tajmahal.gov.in/

• UNESCO Taj Mahal profile: whc.unesco.org/en/list/252

• Explore the Taj Mahal: www.taj-mahal.net/newtaj/textMM/Inlay.html

This story about Taj Mahal gems previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story and Photos by Jim Brace-Thompson.

The post Exploring Taj Mahal Gemstones first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Helping With Choices

GIA-certified gemologists Lindsey Carr and Julie Walton Garland have not only studied the properties of gemstones, it’s their business to help customers make informed decisions when it comes to purchasing jewelry.

Carr, who is based in Redditch, UK, serves as an on-air host for the British television and online jewelry retailer, Gemporia. She is also an Applied Jewelry Professional (AJP). Carr notes that fewer diamonds are on the market because of sourcing difficulties and this is driving up prices. She also advises that people know some of the science behind the stone they are purchasing.

“You want to pay attention to a stone’s hardness, measured on a scale from one to 10. Gemstones that score below a seven require a little extra care and caution,” said Car.

Garland is the third-generation owner of Walton’s Antique and Estate Jewelry in Franklin, Tennessee. She points out that diamonds made in a lab and moissanite have become popular selections in recent years because you can own a larger carat weight for less, avoid potentially buying a conflict diamond and steer clear of the environmental issues associated with mining.

White Sapphire

While sapphires, like Montana sapphires, are best recognized in blue and pink shades, the white or clear variety also has a lot to offer the consumer. Sapphires are one of the four most sought-after precious gems (the others being diamonds, rubies, and emeralds). The stone is a variety of corundum, which is aluminum oxide, and is a nine on the Mohs Hardness Scale.

You can usually tell a white sapphire from a diamond because these stones process light by returning a silvery white-gray sparkle in the light, whereas diamonds have a rainbow-hued glint. Carr noted they can also have a cloudy, milky appearance compared to diamonds, particularly in big sizes.

Garland says wearing white sapphires daily can lead to them looking dull across the top and becoming susceptible to chips or scratches.

“The price gap between a diamond and a white sapphire is significant,” Carr said. “Some sources say that while a white sapphire of high quality (6mm in size) fetches around $730, a colorless diamond of the same size can cost $2,900 or more.”

White Zircon

Zircon (not to be confused with zirconium and cubic zirconium) is the oldest gemstone on earth: 4.4 billion years old. It is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. The colorless variety is known as “Matara” after a city in Sri Lanka near where it is found. Some of its most desirable shades include blue, red, yellow, green, pink, grey, purple, brown and orange.

“Because of their similarity to diamonds, it’s the only natural gem to come close to imitating a diamond,” Carr said. “High sparkle, luster, dispersion and refraction — everything I love about a diamond. It plays excellently with light, making it a brilliant, fiery gemstone.”

Garland echoed that sentiment, adding that zircon is known for its doubling effect, or double refraction, which is when a ray of light passes through the gemstone, is slowed, bent and split in two.

Sometimes, zircon is confused with the manmade stone cubic zirconia. Zircon can be brittle (its hardness is only 6-7.5). It should be worn with care to avoid scratches or chipping.

White Topaz

Topaz is a silicate mineral. The white, or clear hue, offers exceptional gleam and is one of the most affordable diamond alternatives – acarat of topaz costs less than $200. “I would choose a topaz over a laboratory-created gem any day of the week,” said Carr. While topaz is an eight on the Mohs scale, she points out that’s relative unless you understand how the ranking works.

“Diamond is a 10. In actuality, diamonds are really over six times harder than topaz,” she explains. “The stronger the refraction, the more brilliant the gemstone. Diamond has a refractive number of 2.42. Topaz is 1.64 — only a fraction in comparison to diamonds.”

Garland said topaz gradually loses its sparkle over time from scratches. White topaz is commonly used as an accent stone to encircle a usually pricier gem and will look like diamonds, minus the price tag.

Goshenite

Goshenite is a type of beryl, a gem known as “the mother of all gemstones” because beryl can be transformed into stones including emerald, morganite and aquamarine. It is composed of beryllium aluminum silicate.

“Beryl is notoriously going to have some inclusions; emerald is practically always included,” said Garland. “Black inclusions are more noticeable to the naked eye, but there can be colorless inclusions as well.”

It gets its name from Goshen, Massachusetts, one of the first areas where the stone was uncovered, but it can also be found in Brazil and Canada. Its hardness ranges from 7.5-8.

Garland said if you don’t plan to wear it at all times, it can make an excellent choice for special occasions. Carr agrees.

“It’s a rare stone,” Carr said. “My manager at work has a goshenite as an engagement ring and it looks incredible. And of course, you can get the bigger stones for a more affordable price.”

Quartz

Quartz is the least expensive diamond lookalike. It is made of silicon and oxygen. The quartz crystal is known as a power stone. The clear variety is considered a “master healer” that can increase energy and focus. Its colored varieties include: citrine, amethyst, rose quartz and smoky quartz.

Herkimer diamonds are designated the official state mineral of New York. They are naturally faceted (18 facets) quartz found in upstate New York. Herkimer diamonds share many physical properties attributed to quartz. They are almost always transparent and range from colorless (“water clear”) to smoky/ black. Many couples now travel to New York to dig their own “Herks” to use in engagement/wedding rings and in other jewelry pieces.

“It (quartz) is a great alternative to diamonds when faceted and they emit the most amount of light, making them appear more sparkly than they actually are,” Carr said.

She loves seeing topaz and quartz stones cut in non-traditional designs such as a snowflake or alpine. “Anything that has a little bit of difference, with loads of facets, those gemstones bring it to life,” she added.

It’s important to note large quartz stones have a glassy appearance.

Moissanite

Moissanite is the most popular diamond alternative on the market for engagement rings, and with good reason. On the Mohs scale, it’s a 9.25 to 9.50, is resistant to scratches and abrasion and greatly resembles diamonds, particularly to the untrained eye.

Moissanite is a rare mineral discovered by French chemist Henri Moissan in 1893 in a crater made by a meteorite that fell to Earth in Arizona. Its crystals are composed of silicon carbide. However, because natural moissanite is scarce, moissanite sold today is lab-created.

“Diamonds are always going to hold true to being the most suitable stone for everyday wear, but the next best choice in terms of durability and wear, would be moissanite,” Garland said. “It’s the best simulated, so it’s going to look the most like a diamond. It will be much less expensive too.”

Garland said it also refracts the light a little bit more than diamonds. While this intense sparkle is alluring to some, others feel it has a “disco ball” look, particularly in sunlight.

“Like white sapphire, moissanite is most often colorless, although it can be tinged with hints of yellow or green,” Carr added.

Cubic Zirconia

Cubic zirconia is the most readily available diamond simulate. Mass-produced, it’s often used in costume jewelry. It has a hardness of eight.

Cubic zirconia is a form of zirconium dioxide. Carr noted cubic zirconia can occur naturally, but never in amounts that can be used commercially. It is usually colorless and contains few if any inclusions. Jewelry using this stone will often be stamped “CZ.”

“If you’ve ever seen sterling jewelry with CZs set in it, worn all the time, it’s going to look kind of like it went through the disposal, in terms of getting a chipped, abraded surface,” Garland explained.

Carr said it requires repeated polishing to maintain its luster but can be a great diamond substitute for cocktail rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Lab-Grown Diamonds

Lab-grown diamonds, sometimes called cultivated diamonds, are genuine stones formed above ground in a matter of weeks instead of below ground for millions or billions of years, using one of the following techniques:

• High Pressure, High Temperature

(HPHT): These diamonds are created in a lab using a growth chamber. A source of carbon dissolves in molten metal and carbon atoms travel through the metal to a small created or natural diamond seed to produce a diamond crystal.

• Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD):

This technique uses carbon-rich gas, such as methane, in a vacuum chamber. Methane gas breaks down into carbon and hydrogen atoms, which are deposited on diamond seeds to produce a square-shaped, tabular diamond.

Lab-grown diamonds are a 10 for hardness — just like natural diamonds. According to the Gemological Institute of America, the way diamonds grow (natural and manufactured) depends on the environment where they are grown.

• Natural diamonds grow outward on the octahedral faces.

• HPHT diamonds grow outward on the octahedral and cube faces.

• CVD synthetic diamonds grow mainly upward in one direction (a cube face).

Garland said the harder the gem, the better its durability and heirloom potential. These also tend to have a higher asking price.

“To me, something created in a lab is never going to stand up next to diamonds, in terms of quality,” she noted. “Lab diamonds became really popular a couple of years ago, but prices have plummeted as of late. Diamond will hold its value better than anything else.”

Whether you select white sapphire for its durability, moissanite for its sparkle, zircon or topaz for its brilliance, quartz for its low price, or lab-made stones for sustainability or cost reasons, these gems are sure to bring joy for years to come with the proper care.

This story about best diamond alternatives previously appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Sara Jordan-Heintz.

The post What’s the Best Diamond Alternative? first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

Hands-On Experience

During our adventure, I learned about the local geology and experienced the vast wilderness that makes Revelstoke a world-class destination, all while pulling giant sapphire specimens out of the earth. I am convinced, that over the next few years, Herb Hyder’s aptly named Blue Jay claim will produce stunning sapphire crystal specimens, as well as lapidary material.

Herb announced to the world via social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook the discovery on the very day it occurred, April 13, 2019.  The moment I saw photos of these crystals, I was amazed. The crystals exhibited the most unique concentric hexagonal structure and chatoyance. I immediately set up an interview with this young prospector to see what he had going on in British Columbia, Canada. A week later, I had my bags packed and passport in hand. Luckily for me, British Columbia is only a day’s drive from my home. The weather was perfect, and the drive through the mountains was beautiful.

The afternoon of my arrival, Herb and I met up in Revelstoke and exchanged quick introductions before heading out into the remote wilderness to see his new claim. After a long drive down winding dirt roads, we arrived at camp just before sundown. We hastily got a fire going while preparing dinner and chatting up a storm. Interestingly enough, as we were sitting by the fire a grouse came running out of the brush! The chatty bird ended up joining us every day for breakfast and dinner.

The following morning Herb and I woke early and hiked to the sapphire claim. With the discovery being so recent, both of us were excited to get to the claim, assess the situation and see what we could collect. As an added bonus, the hike provided the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about Herb’s past and discover what brought him down the path he is on currently.

Path to Rockhounding Starts Early

Herb’s mother was from Maine, and as a child, he spent quite a bit of time there. It was in this state, at the age of five, he had his first experience digging gemstones. He often collected rose quartz from the local pegmatites and has been hooked ever since.

Growing up in a financially challenging environment, as a teenager Herb found a way to make money doing what he knew best. At this point in time, his family was living in Nelson, British Columbia, where his father ran a jeweler’s shop. Herb told me he would climb the mountain behind his father’s shop and collect quartz specimens to take back down and sell. His entrepreneurship helped feed his family.

Early in his adult life, Herb began working as a prospector for mining companies. Over the years, he’s worked in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, hiking all over the countryside searching for deposits of gold, silver, and rare earth minerals for mining companies. Often, the locations were so remote he had to be flown in by helicopter.

However, things took a turn in 2012, during the economic recession, and Herb found himself without consistent work. That situation prompted Herb to approach things differently, and he began creating work for himself, by traveling greater British Columbia prospecting for gem deposits and staking claims. Since then he’s started making a name for himself, and people are starting to notice. He is quickly becoming one of Canada’s most well-known prospectors.

Relying on Ingenuity and Instinct

Given his sapphire discovery, among others, it’s easy to see why people are paying attention. While Herb may not have struck it rich yet, he still follows his passion and is doing what he loves; even if that means living out of his truck from time to time. His commitment to living his dream is leading to the discovery of gemstones that would likely never make it out of the earth.

In the mountains surrounding the greater Revelstoke area, Herb has found deposits of iolite, smokey quartz, amethyst, fluorite, aquamarine, graphite and now sapphire. Herb’s also credited with other noteworthy gem discoveries, including an Isometric claim, which has been since sold. In the isometric claim area, Herb found lovely green and purple color-changing fluorite. He is also responsible for finding some of Mt. Odin’s best amethyst and smoky quartz crystals. Plus, his iolite claim produces large fist-sized nodules, which contain zones of large gem-facet grade material.

After learning more about Herb during our hike, we made it to the sapphire deposit high in the mountains. The best way to describe it is being on a steep hillside up against a rock wall full of sapphires and garnets. You would never know it existed unless you stumbled upon the spot, which Herb did. Upon our arrival, it was clear the deposit is highly crystallized.

Herb directed me to the wall and explained the geology. The corundum sapphire crystals at this locality are the crystallized form of aluminum oxide. The vibrant blue color of these gems happens when the corundum is rich in iron and titanium. The optical chatoyant effect seen in these gems happens when many very thin parallel inclusions occur. Light is reflected back and forth between these bands, which creates a “silky” effect. While this material is highly chatoyant, we have not seen it show an asterism yet.  An asterism is what creates a “star” effect. It’s highly likely this effect will be observed in the near future, as this new gem makes its way into the lapidary market and many beautiful stones come to light.

Head-Down Hard-Rock Mining

The majority of the mountain where the deposit is located is made of metamorphic gneiss created from the tectonic action of the Shuswap metamorphic complex. In addition, this area is in a zone where nepheline syenite was accumulated and created an area rich in corundum (sapphire) and garnet crystals of large size. Nepheline syenite is a feldspathoid type rock, and you can visibly see feldspar crystals growing along with corundum crystals. While the deposit was easy to see, Herb could only collect so much without having to start hard rock mining.

Eventually, he expects to begin hard rock mining. In preparation, he’s begun removing all dirt and boulders that have built up against the rock face. Once that is complete, he can create a bench by drilling back into the rock where he can stand. In this fashion, he will be able to systematically work the claim. During my visit, there appeared to be 5 to 10 feet of rocks and dirt that would need to be removed before more rock wall would be exposed. Revealing more of the wall helps determine how far down the deposit extends. It’s a near certainty that while digging through all this material more sapphires will be retrieved. 

Fortunately for me, I was able to assist with this while I was there. We grabbed shovels and started digging straight down toward the rock wall.  This created a natural bench, which gave us flat ground to work from. We used all the dirt we dug to create a tailings pile that was directed away from the area. Every now and again we would uncover a piece or a full sapphire crystal. This was enough to keep us digging. However, we also had to remember we had an equally important goal: to dig through and reach the rock wall.

Toward the end of the day of the first day, we uncovered a hundred-pound boulder full of sapphire crystals! It took Herb over an hour to break down this boulder and recover all the crystals that naturally dislodged from the metamorphic matrix. Many of the crystals revealed a bright blue and silver chatoyance and presented with a good crystal structure. They also appeared to be stacked and intergrown. I was amazed at the number of crystals in the rock were in that rock. After a busy first day, we headed out.

The next day we decided to take a break and visit a nearby hot spring to relax. This was exactly what was needed before another day of digging.

Boulders Offer Sapphires Aplenty

Our digging experience during the third day was similar to our first day, as we hit another large 100-pound boulder full of sapphires. Up until then, we were happy enough with the progress. However, this put us over the top with excitement. We knew there would be good specimens coming from that boulder.

As my last day drew to a close, we packed up and made our way back down the mountain, with backpacks full of fabulous sapphire specimens. Once we arrived at our vehicles, we took one last look at what we found and photographed our finds.    

While the end of this digging adventure came too soon, I was very happy to have had the chance to meet and dig with Herb and purchase a few of the amazing sapphire specimens to take with me. Once I returned home, I took to my preparation and lapidary shop and got to work on the sapphires. Just as Herb and I had discussed, there is huge potential with these fantastic gems. I made many cabochons from the rough broken crystals and was pleased to see they all exhibited vivid silver chatoyance and stunning blue and silvery grey growth patterns.

They will certainly be popular once they hit the market as a lapidary stone. In addition, these giant sapphire crystal specimens will make great additions to museums and private collections everywhere. Because the sapphires are found locked in a metamorphic host rock, they can be prepared to be very aesthetic and oftentimes break apart from the rock in a perfect manner. Their natural cleavage makes for a perfect window into the stone, revealing its growth patterns and chatoyance. 

Seize the Opportunity

My trip up to Revelstoke and the time I spent with Canadian prospector Herb Hyder proved to be extraordinary. I enjoyed getting to know him and having the opportunity to witness the local geology firsthand while collecting with the man who found the spot mere days before.

Claim Update

The story of Blue Jay Claim continues to evolve. Recently, claim ownership changed from discoverer Herb Hyder to Chris Robak.

Robak worked out a deal with Hyder to take over ownership and operations. This move allows Hyder the money and freedom to focus on his is true passion — prospecting!

Chris Robak intends to share Canada’s mineral specimen wealth with those throughout the world. This venture will certainly enable him to fulfill that destiny.

In addition to owning and operating three Alberta-based storefronts, as Silver Cove Ltd., Chris and his wife, Melissa, also coordinate dozens of gem shows that take place throughout the year in Canada.

This story about sapphire discovery appeared in Rock & Gem magazine. Click here to subscribe. Story by Stuart Tate Wilson.

The post Sapphire Discovery first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

My first experience of Lava Plains (North Queensland, Australia) was around 1985, when a local farmer allowed ‘friends of friends’ to wander around certain areas of his holdings, camp in a rough shelter used for putting out cattle lick in the summer, and randomly pick up bits of sapphire and anything else shiny wherever we saw it.

Hailing from Cairns (tropical locale considered the gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef), our winter clothes consisted of tracksuits, jeans, and a spray jacket. We arrived at Lava Plains in July, full of enthusiasm for a weeks’ holiday spent alone in the bush with the promise of treasure to be found.

Venturing Into the Plains

The weather was clear, with bright, glorious sunshine and by nightfall, it was absolutely freezing. So much so we went to bed with the sun every night, wearing every garment we could fit on, under every blanket that we had bought, huddled together like a litter of puppies until the morning. The days were only marginally warmer and the only skin to see the light of day was on our hands; quite a shock to our tropical blood. It became one of those ‘remember the time’ family legends that we recall quite clearly some 30 years later, and not because of the gemstones which were scarce and poor quality. It is probably no surprise that it took us a long while to gather our courage to return for another go.

In 2016, with most of our party being new to fossicking (the Australian and New Zealand term for prospecting), we decided to try our luck with sapphires again and planned a long weekend trip to the Lava Plains fossicking area. We had done a lot of research into where to go and what to look for and felt we had a good chance of success this time around. What was unexpected on this particular weekend, was that working in a red soil area in the rain is a challenge in itself.

Not only was it cold and damp, but wet red soil becomes like glue on the bottom of everything — tyres (tires) shoes, buckets etc., and just builds up as you move, making you taller and your feet heavier with each step. After a couple of fruitless hours, we grudgingly admitted that Mother Nature had beaten us as the wash was impossible to dig or sieve. So we retreated, gemless, about 115km back to the Ravenshoe Highway to Innot Hot Springs to stay at the caravan park. It is fair to say that our second experience at Lava Plains wasn’t terribly encouraging either, and just as uncomfortable as the first, albeit for a different reason.

Focused Fossicking

However, not to pass up a weekend of fossicking, we headed to Mount Gibson, a few kilometers to the north of the caravan park, to look for topaz crystals on the hilltops of the old Patricia and Glittering Star mines. Mid-year in this area is really cold (by tropical standards), so the biggest drawcard of the Innot Hot Springs Caravan Park is the swimming pools that have heated water pumped from the local hot thermal spring. Being able to relax in the heated pools after a long day digging for topaz is just what the doctor ordered and it doesn’t get much better than that, sapphires or no sapphires.

Lava Plains is the general permission fossicking area on Lava Plains Station and the only known sapphire field in the district. Previously camping was permitted near the fossicking site, but the current landowner has disallowed camping for the usual reasons. Lava Plains is within the geological McBride Basalt Province. The area has a heavy covering of basalt rocks associated with the volcanic activity that formed the Undara Lava Tubes on Mt Surprise Station to the west. There has been considerable controversy over the geological formation of the sapphire-bearing areas in Australia, with theories that were proven in one field being soundly shot down on a neighboring field. The following excerpt from a lecture given in 2003 by Jim Elliott of Coolamon Pty Ltd, who extensively mined Aussie sapphire fields in Central and North Queensland, states:

“The conventional theory has it that the formation of the Central Queensland and the Lava Plains sapphire resources is the result of major extrusions or emissions from large volcanic sources and that the sapphire was subsequently transported by large river systems and deposited in the areas where it is currently mined today.

As a result of observations during some 20 years of mining on the Central Queensland Gemfields and five years on the Lava Plains field, I believe this theory to be totally incorrect.

I believe that the sapphire was produced from a large number of smaller vents which are located throughout the sapphire producing areas and that the sapphire never moves any significant distance from its point of origin at the surface.”

Understanding ‘Water-Worn’ Sapphire

He goes on to propose the ‘water-worn’ sapphire was actually created in that shape and appearance whilst being formed, rather than from the abrasive action on crystals traveling in streams or rivers for long periods of time. His theory makes a lot of logical sense. If you wish to research this matter further, consider: http://www.australiansapphire.com/sapphire_formation_theory.htm

The locality at the center of our research has been a prime cattle-raising area since

the mid-1800’s. The German explorer, Ludwig Leichardt, traveled through the region in 1846 and on reaching the top of the range to the east of the fossicking area, found a bountiful valley with abundant water and good grass. Leichardt named it Valley of Lagoons and today it is a cattle station of that name. He blazed a tree with his initials on the spot where he first saw the valley.

The author of a story in the Brisbane newspaper The Week wrote in 1908 “It (the tree) was burned down by a man who was not interested in the historical association.” Leichardt undertook this exploratory expedition from Brisbane, up the coast of Queensland, across Cape York and finally along the eastern coast of the Northern Territory ending at Port Essington, north of Darwin.

This remarkable trek, on foot and horseback, covered 4800 km of untouched wilderness and took 14 months. Government authorities had given up hope, believing the party to have perished on a route as the terrain is extreme, food in short supply along the way and the local Aboriginal people often hostile.

Locating the Lava Plains

Lava Plains is about 200 km southwest of Cairns via Atherton, on the Atherton Tablelands, then through Ravenshoe and Mt Garnet. After leaving Mt Garnet, travel 62 km on the Kennedy Developmental Road towards Hughenden where you will meet the Gulf Developmental Road turnoff heading west to Normanton and Karumba. There is an old gravel pit and a toilet block here where caravans often camp for a night or just stop for a cuppa. Continue on the Kennedy Developmental Road another 35 km to Lava Plains Station.

The fossicking area is on the left-hand side of the highway, marked only with a small sign in a clearing and I’m pretty sure we have overshot it on every visit. There is a parking area with a locked gate to stop vehicular access to the mine road, which is wide and well maintained (albeit very rocky and uneven to walk on), leading through the permitted fossicking area to a privately-owned mining lease. Entry to this lease is not permitted, especially after the lease owners lost most of their mining camp and equipment to serious theft.

The parking area has a turnstile that gives you enough room to squeeze yourself and a wheelbarrow through, and from there it is a 15-20 minute walk to the fossicking area of Wyandotte Creek.

Again, we decided to do a couple of days fossicking for sapphire at Lava Plains over the July long weekend in 2017. Being a good three-hour drive from home, we thought we would give Pinnarendi Station Stay and Cafe a go as our base camp. I contacted Nadine Atkinson on their Facebook page to book our sites, and as we had become a party of seven or eight vehicles who wanted to camp together, she was very obliging in giving us the larger sites so we could all fit comfortably.

Appealing Accommodations

The camping areas are so new that they were running cables for power and water infrastructure the day we arrived, with trenches and conduits having to be negotiated with care. There is a new amenities block that was yet not operational, but we all managed to share the one toilet/shower room with all the other campers/caravanners, which was a surprising number for a very new enterprise. The cafe offers coffee and morning tea/brunch, and a home-style hot meal every night if you book it in the morning. Saturday night is traditionally wood-fired sourdough pizzas, amazing gourmet varieties made while you watch, all you can eat for $20, and you can be sure some of the young men in our party got their money’s worth. Altogether, I would highly recommend Pinnarendi and we plan to stay there again.

But, let’s get back to sapphires. We made the 45-minute drive from Pinnarendi towards Greenvale to Lava Plains on the first and third days of our trip, with the middle day being a trip to O’Briens’ Creek for topaz.

I am an avid ‘specker’ myself and find that I pick up as much colour as the die-hard dig-and-sieve brigade, which makes me a bit unpopular at times. Specking is the Aussie term for walking around a likely digging site with your eyes glued to the ground, picking up stones that have been overlooked by others or that have been exposed by heavy rain.

Gems like topaz, sapphire, agate and opal are often found by this method because they are shiny or colourful, and some surprisingly impressive stones are found on a regular basis.

Fossicking Process

It did appear as though the creek where we were digging had been commercially mined in places at various times, which means that finding the original gem-bearing wash is almost impossible and the majority of the good stones are gone.

It has been said that the mining machinery was designed to catch only the bigger stones and in theory, there should be gem-quality smaller stones that escaped the process remaining to be found by fossickers. The ground is very rocky, and the soil hard-packed and difficult to extract from between the boulders. Once in the sieve, the dark wash contains a lot of clay clods which must be broken apart for inspection, so it is by no means an easy field to work.

Having a supply of water to wash the gravel would have made the process much easier, but the creeks are all dry in the winter months and the fossicking area too inaccessible to consider carting water with us. All of our party are keen bush-campers and we just really enjoyed being out in the fresh air, sunshine, and bushland, with the hard yakka being part of the appeal.

Overall, we had an enjoyable five or six hours each visit, with all of us acquiring a spoonful of green or blue chips and bigger flawed bits, a deep cobalt blue being the Lava Plains predominant shade. Only one stone, found by my son-in-law, was a possible gem-quality cutter.

It is amazing how the trip walking back to the cars in the afternoon, although mostly downhill, always seems much more tedious than the one going uphill in the morning.

I had collected my haul of gems in a small glass jar. On our last day, as I was heaving my weary bones into our Landcruiser to leave, the jar dropped from my hand, landed neatly on the rockslider bar, smashed to smithereens in the long grass and I lost the lot. So if you ever visit Lava Plains, remember to have a quick speck around the carpark and you might be lucky.

Memories Created, Valuable Lessons Learned

I have always felt that fossicking is a game of chance, and like gambling, becomes

addictive. Being enthusiastic gem-hunters, I know we will return to Lava Plains for years to come, as ‘you just never know what you might find’ despite our previous experiences. Good stones have and still do, come from this field.

In mid-2016, as our families traveled through Mt. Surprise topaz-hunting, we stopped at the Gem Den, one of the local rock shops, where Leigh’s son bought a lovely blue Lava Plains faceted sapphire for the centre stone of the engagement ring for his future wife (Jenni’s daughter), thus Lava Plains has a lot of memories and good associations for us.

The Gem Den has a large range of beautiful local and imported, cut and rough gems of all sorts and quality ready-made jewelry for sale, well worth a look if you are passing through and you could get yourself a little, quality piece of Australia as a souvenir to remember your visit.

The post Lava Plains first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

This ancient proverb may be, in my opinion, one of the most ‘spot-on’ observations in history. It certainly applies to a number of inventions and intentions, including lapidary.

As historical records and archeological discoveries have shown, humans were carving, chiseling, and grinding stones as far back as prehistoric times. Often to create tools and weapons, the earliest acts of a purposeful transformation of stone were likely accomplished as a result of stone breaking or cracking and early humans discovering how harder stones could help shape less hard stones.

Another proverb that could be used to describe early humans’ use of what in essence is lapidary techniques is ‘waste not, want not.’ For even when stones or minerals would crack and break, people would find ways to use the pieces. Fast forwarding to the 13-14th century, reports from this time point to the rise in popularity of the elaborate pigment ultramarine. The blue color presented by ultramarine is distinctive and became a popular choice of artists. Back in the 14th century, artists ground lapis lazuli stone into powder to mix with oils and create the lavish pigment known as ultramarine.

Responding to Demand

As one might expect, with such demand surrounding the relatively limited supply of lapis lazuli stone, there was a rise in the falsification of ultramarine, which was passed off as authentic.

According to an article in the Paris Review, in 1824, there was an effort by the Societé d’Encouragement to prompt the development of a synthetic alternative to ultramarine. A reward of six thousand francs was offered and two men presented their formulas within a few weeks of one another. In the end, the reward was presented to German professor Christian Gmelin. The artificial form of the popular pigment was referred to as ‘french ultramarine.’

There were a number of other popular material choices among early practitioners of what would ultimately be referred to as lapidary. And even though examples from this time are considered primitive in presentation, the processes used to create these early pieces would influence centuries of people working with stone and gems.

Among the materials present in examples of early lapidary work is jade, variations of quartz, amber, turquoise, malachite, sapphire, and obsidian, among others.

As time progressed and people regularly handled and worked with these materials, the uses evolved.

For example, while turquoise found favor with many cultures in Mexico, Tibet, and Egypt, as well as Native Americans for use in making jewelry, it was also ground into a powder to create a form of eye shadow makeup, as reported by Dr. Gerald Wykoff GG CSM, in an article for theInternational Gem Society.

In the same way, sapphire has also captivated people of various cultures. It has appeared on the garments of royalty and clergy for centuries and was seen as a symbol of nobility, truth, and faithfulness, according to an article by the Gemological Institute of America. Taking the belief in sapphire even further, it’s reported that in the Middle Ages, healers and medicine men believed that touching a blue sapphire to the eyes would soothe tired eyes and improve vision.

There’s no question things have changed considerably since prehistoric humans were using stones to cut other stones and discovering how shaping and carving stone could change every-day activities for the better. Yet, the appreciation for the value of lapidary efforts is the focus of timeless attention.

Sources: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/06/08/true-blue; https://www.gemsociety.org/article/the-history-of-lapidary/

The post Saturday Fun Facts: Lapidary first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.

• Crocoite – Spanning Serbia and Tazmania: Once rare, now abundant and always beautiful. By Bob Jones

• Gemstones of The Biblical Breastplate: New Ideas About Their Identity. By Steve Voynick

• Wulfenite Arizona Style (Part III): Tucson Is the Center of America’s Wulfenite World. By Bob Jones

• Rock & Gem Kids: Geology 101 – Is Your Artifact Really a Geofact? By Jim Brace-Thompson

• Faceting Garnets For the New Year: By Jim Perkins

• Mercury-Bearing Minerals: Enticing Material With a Notorious Reputation. By Dr. Lauritz A. Jensen

• Lava Plains Sapphires: Fossicking Adventures in Australia. By Jenni Clark and Leigh Twine

In addition, you’ll find the following regular R&G columns: Bench Tips with Bob Rush, Rock Science with Steve Voynick, What to Cut with Russ Kaniuth, On the Rocks with Bob Jones, Earth Science News with Jim Brace-Thompson, Artisan Alley with Erin Dana Balzrette and Antoinette Rahn, and Collectors’ Corner by Antoinette Rahn, as well as an extensive Show Dates section, and the Parting Shot.

The post Issue Highlights: February 2019 first appeared on Rock & Gem Magazine.